Ewing Creative was informing clients of environmentally conscious paper options long before “green” was a buzzword. Our paper cabinet is chock full of illustrative printed samples provided by paper mills and suppliers, which we’re happy to share. We specify paper, inks and print shops that best suit each client’s project. When appropriate we encourage clients to choose paper that is made from FSC certified, and 100 percent postconsumer fiber.

Achieving “critical mass” on the internet should be part of every business plan. This can be accelerated by getting your company listed on free directories. Google will give you the most credit if you link with words that describe your service. For example we promote ourselves on Thumbtack with this link – The BEST Graphic and Advertising Design.

Make it a part of your plan to spend 15 minutes a week identifying good places to list your business in directories that offer a reciprocal link to your website. This will help to assure that your business shows up on the first page of any search that is relevant to the services / product you provide.

Ewing Creative is located in Port Orchard and Gig Harbor Washington. We also serve clients in Tacoma, Seattle, Bremerton and nation wide.

A question I am often asked is “who owns the copyright to a logo?” It was explained to me by a lawyer friend that it is helpful to understand that copyright refers to a “bundle” of several different exclusive rights. Certainly someone who has just had a logo designed for their company (or organization) wants to be free to legally trademark their mark. Does the designer retain any rights to the design? The answers to these questions should be clearly spelled out in a contract between the designer and the client. Read more…

Car wraps are a marketing practice of completely or partially covering a vehicle in an advertisement. Some businesses benefit more from wrap advertising than others. When planning an ad campaign consider costs per exposure. If you determine that the driving public is highly representative of your customer base then it makes sense to promote your business on company vehicles.

The legal snag that occurs when using clip art, whether it is free or Royalty Free, is that a business cannot copyright their logo. The reason for this is because the intellectual property rights of the art belongs to someone else.

Usage permissions at popular stock image agencies are spelled out in the licensing agreement. Be sure to read license restrictions, or prohibited use clauses that one must agree to before downloading art from stock houses such as iStockphoto, Getty Images and Corbis Images. They clearly state that such art cannot be used for trademarks and logos. These companies want to sell the same art over and over again, as many times as they can but they can spot a potential legal infringement and want to avoid that for themselves, their artists and the end users of the art – the buyers. Read more…

Sometimes there are excellent reasons not to change. Subtle face-lifts are common among big brand companies who update their logo every 5 years, more or less. Corporations who have made huge investments in their brand and are profiting from loyal, repeat customers don’t want to risk abruptly altering their image and getting lost on the shelf.

Sometimes a business is basically happy with their “look”, but recognize that it is outdated. They may be concerned that their competition is looking more contemporary then them. These companies are good candidates for a design make-over.

Design make-overs are a good choice when after carefully analyzing the effectiveness of the current logo no compelling reason can be found to change it. If however, a company’s current identity design isn’t making a clear connection with it’s intended audience it’s time to rethink, regroup, and start anew.

When print ads, radio and tv spots are either too expensive, or just too typical (boring) then it’s time to release the gorilla [Guerrilla Marketing]. Here’s a fun example of how to get the attention of passersby in an urban environment. If you have a projector, anything is possible. Watch Video

If you’ve ever wondered why it seems impossible to fill a grocery cart without adding at least one item whose packaging has been redesigned, the answer to your question is the fact that you’ve asked it. “New look! Same great taste!” openly confesses the blatant goal of catching your eye for no substantial reason. Humans have always noticed novelty, but it’s harder to get our attention in the multicolored and abundant context of a megamart, where one heap of bananas looks much like another.

Linda told me she found the beautiful picture of fish on the internet. It was perfect for the project she was working on. It was 1996 and the web was rapidly moving into a visual realm after being text based. It was a bonanza of “free” content, photos, illustration and text. Read more…